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Atlanta Braves: how the Phillies have done this off-season

By Alan Carpenter

PHILADELPHIA, PA - AUGUST 27: The Phillie Phanatic performs in the seventh inning during a game between the Chicago Cubs and the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on August 27, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Phillies won 6-3. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - AUGUST 27: The Phillie Phanatic performs in the seventh inning during a game between the Chicago Cubs and the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on August 27, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Phillies won 6-3. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images) /
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The second of four posts to assess where the Braves’ NL East rivals are at this point of the off-season, this one being dedicated to the Cheesesteak City.

The Atlanta Braves have only finished in the basement of the NL East on only one occasion during this rebuild.  They have the Phillies to thank for that.

The Phils have been doing their own variation on a rebuild lately, and while they are still on track with a number of high-value prospects (6 currently in MLBPipeline’s Top 100).  There is more to that story, however…

BaseballAmerica.com shows 7 Phils Pharmhands amongst their mid-season Top 100 list.  But here’s the problem:

  • Mickey Moniak.  46th (was 13th)
  • Jorge Alfaro.  81st (was 32nd)
  • J.P. Crawford.  92nd (was 19th)

In other words, the best of their best have all fallen back in 2017, and Moniak is still their #1 prospect overall (2 new names appeared in the BA Top 100 this Summer, with 2B Scott Kingery shooting up to #52 after a nice AA Spring).

So while the Phils’ rebuild seems to have taken a large step backward this year, their ownership has effectively declared it to be over.

Here’s owner John Middleton quoted from roughly a week ago (from philly.com via mlbtraderumors.com):

"Yeah, I think we’re close. They came to us with a budget, and we said, ‘Guys, if you want to put that number in for the budget, that’s fine, but don’t live with that. If something comes up, and it breaks the bank relative to the budget, and you don’t pursue it, we’re going to be upset.’ And they know that."

Now how does that work exactly?  Well, it seems that what I had feared is starting to materialize:  the Phillies are ready to spend big money again.

Of all MLB clubs, Philadelphia probably had as much room to grow their payroll as any other team.  Their Opening Day payroll peaked at $183 million in 2014, but as they’ve shed their contracts, that number fell to $103 million in 2016.

It was $119.6 million in 2017 (ranking 22nd overall), but if the season began today, they would take the field with an estimated $64.4 million roster.  And that’s after adding in the money for three newly-signed free agents, including $18.3 million for Carlos Santana.

It does seem that the Phillies are throwing money at players to lure free agents… perhaps as well to convince others as yet unsigned that they want to win now.  We’ll have to see how that works, for it’s likely that they still have a whole lot of dollars left to spend this off-season… perhaps 60 to $100 million even.

So with that as the backdrop… here’s what they’ve already done:

Philadelphia Phillies

SIGNINGS:

  • 1B Carlos Santana.  3 years, $60 million plus 2021 option
  • RHRP Tommy Hunter.  2 years, $18 million
  • RHRP Pay Neshek.  2 years, $16.25million plus option for 2020.
  • CF/SS Pedro Florimon.  Minor league deal.

TRADES:

  • RHP Nick Burdi to Pittsburgh for ‘Future Considerations’… almost immediately after having claimed him on minor league waivers from the Twins
  • SS Freddy Galvis to San Diego for RHP Enyel De Los Santos.

DEPARTURES:

  • SP Jeremy Hellickson (mid-season)
  • Engelb Vielma (waiver claim; had been acquired via claim in November)
  • Cameron Perkins (waiver claim)
  • RHP Henderson Alvarez
  • RHP Clay Buchholz
  • LF Daniel Nava
  • 3B Andres Blanco
  • RF Hyun Soo Kim

OTHER:

  • Of some note:  former #1 overall pick Mark Appel (2013) was DFA’d… and no one claimed him.

BOTTOM LINE

There’s still a lot of work to do… and money won’t be enough to solve their problems.  The Philly rotation has Aaron Nola and no one else that is worrisome to an opponent, though they collectively finished in the middle of the pack in ERA.

Their offense, however, was terrible, with only 3 players above 2 fWAR.  As an example, Galvis is now gone at shortstop and their depth chart shows J.P. Crawford as his replacement for now… someone who had just a .214 batting average in limited 2017 ABs.

Next: The Pest Report

Galvis didn’t hit much either, but at least his glove was useful.  Other than that, Santana is the only significant offensive boost acquired so far, which suggests strongly that the Phillies are still looking for more ways to spend their holiday cash.

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